DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 11 SEP 2017

i.
Assam passed the Industrial Disputes (Assam Amendment) Bill, 2017, regarding
lay off of employees, in Guwahati. The law enables employers to lay off up to
300 employees without prior permission from the government.

ii.
The employee count has been increased from 100 to 300. The law is said to
increase the ease of doing business. As, employers are hesitant to recruit more
number of employees because when the employee count increases more than 100,
there would be problems during lay off.

iii.
The Government has decided to increase the compensation of a labourer from the
current 15 days salary to up to 60 days salary.

2.WEST BENGAL LEADS IN NEW TAX REGISTRATION UNDER GST REGIME

i.
According to the reports, the national average is 23%; Bengal leads the pack
with as high as 77% in new tax registration under the GST regime in India. As
per the reports, about 245,000 people in the state are tax payers while the
number in the country stands at around 8 million.

ii.
States such as Gujarat and Maharashtra are behind West Bengal in GST
registration. The figures were disclosed by Mr Arvind Singh, the new principal
commissioner of GST & CX, eastern region.

iii.
The figures were disclosed at a session titled “Democratisation of Services” on
the second of the two-day ICT East organized by CII.

i.
Defence Minister flagged off Navy women team’s historic voyage from Goa for
circumnavigation. The Indian Navy’s woman team has embarked on a
circumnavigation of the globe, with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

ii.
The Indian Navy calls it a “historic” day for the country. Goa Chief Minister
Manohar Parrikar and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba were also present on the
occasion.

iii.
The minister flagged off the first such expedition by the Indian Navy, ‘Navika
Sagar Parikrama’, at a ceremony at the INS Mandovi naval training base, Panaji
Goa. The 6-member women crew will circumnavigate the globe on an India-built
sail boat, INSV Tarini, which is being captained by Lt Commander Vartika Joshi.

iv.
The circumnavigation is to be covered in about 165 days at sea. The first stop
would be in Free-Mantle in Australia, New Zealand and then to Falklands before
reaching their last stop in Cape Town in South Africa.

4.ICICI LOMBARD, SBI LIFE INSURANCE GETS SEBI APPROVAL FOR IPO

i.
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company and SBI Life Insurance gets SEBI
approval for Initial Public Offering. SBI Life Insurance has received approval
from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an IPO of up to Rs 8,400 cr
($1.3 billion), with launch targeted for the September 20-22 period.

ii.
The IPO will involve 120 million secondary shares, or 12% of the insurer’s
equity capital. State Bank of India, which currently owns 70.1% of the insurer,
will sell 80 million shares and BNP Paribas Cardif, holder of a 26% stake, will
sell 40 million.

iii.
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company has got approval from capital markets
regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India’s which could be the first by
a general insurer in the country.

iv.
ICICI Lombard is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Canada-based Fairfax
Financial Holdings Ltd. According to market sources, the IPO could be worth
about Rs 6,000 cr.

5.IRDAI ALLOWS ONE-TIME PASSWORD FOR OPENING ONLINE INSURANCE
ACCOUNT

i.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority announced usage of OTP for
opening e-Insurance Account as an alternative to electronic signature, in New
Delhi.

ii.
IRDAI said that in order to facilitate the opening of e-Insurance Account
through online or electronic means, the authority has permitted validation by
One Time Password.

iii.
Now, e-signature of the e- insurance account holder on the application form for
opening the account is considered as a valid authentication. Also IRDAI has
permitted the e-KYC facility offered by Unique Identification Authority of
India which provides unique Aadhaar numbers.

6.MICROSOFT CEO SATYA NADELLA ANNOUNCES HIS FIRST BOOK ‘HIT
REFRESH’

i.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has launched his 1st book named Hit Refresh. The
book includes the inside story of the company’s continuing transformation,
Nadella’s own personal journey, Vision for the coming wave of intelligent
technologies.

ii.
The book goes on sale globally on 26th September and is available for
pre-order. Satya Nadella will donate all proceeds from Hit Refresh to Microsoft
Philanthropies.

iii.
The book also includes a set of questions for anybody searching for improvement
for themselves as leaders, for their institutions and for society.

7.INDIA WINS 2ND SABA U-16 CHAMPIONSHIP

i.
India won the 2nd South Asian Basketball, SABA, Under – 16 Championship, in
Kathmandu, Nepal.

ii.
The championship was held at Dashrath Rangshala Stadium, in Kathmandu. India
won all its 4 matches and obtained a total of 8 points.

iii.
India was followed by Bangladesh in the 2nd position and Nepal in
the 3rd. The championship followed a round robin league format.

iv.
India has now qualified for the 2017 International Basketball Federation, FIBA,
Under-16 Asian Championship to be played in Malaysia, in 2017.

8.WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY 2017

i.
World Suicide Prevention Day 2017 was observed throughout the world. This
year’s theme was ‘Take a minute, change a life.’

ii.
This is the 15th World Suicide Prevention Day. The day was first observed in
2003, as an initiative of the International Association for Suicide Prevention
and the World Health Organization.

iii.
The following activities are carried out on the World Suicide Prevention Day: Launch
of new government initiatives to prevent suicide, Media programs that promote
suicide prevention, Conferences, educational seminars and public lectures
regarding suicide prevention.

iv.
Memorial services or candlelight ceremonies to remember those who died by
suicide, Organizing cultural or spiritual events, fairs and exhibitions, Launches
of publications about suicide awareness and prevention and Training courses about
suicide and depression awareness.

9.HIMALAYA DAY BEING OBSERVED ACROSS UTTARAKHAND ON SEPTEMBER 9

i.
Himalayan Day observed across the country on 9th September and the main
programme held in Dehradun. Himalayan Day would be observed at 400 venues across
the country to highlight its importance.

ii.
The theme for this year was ‘Contribution of Himalayas and Our Responsibility’.
The mission took out a rally in Dehradun to mark the day and CM Trivendra Singh
Rawat was the chief guest at the workshop.

OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1.
WHICH STATE HAS PASSED THE INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES REGARDING LAY OFF OF EMPLOYEES?

a) Hyderabad

b) Assam

c) Kerala

d) Tamil Nadu

Q2.
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STATE IN INDIA LEADS IN NEW TAX REGISTRATION UNDER GST
REGIME?